The Locarno Film Festival is known for celebrating the cinema of the past, whether through its historical sidebars, tributes, or its world-famous retrospective. Since 2021, it has also partnered in the restoration of classic films.

Locarno will restore a film as part of a direct partnership with Cinegrell, the world-renowned restoration lab in Berlin and Zurich. But since 2023, it has offered institutions around the world the chance to submit films in need of restoration to its Heritage Restoration Contest. At the next edition of the Festival, a jury of international experts will pick the film most deserving of restoration. In 2023, this was won by Alberto Cavalcanti's Mulher de Verdade and in 2024 by Liliana Cavani's The Year of the Cannibals.

Submissions for the next edition of the contest open until April 29, 2025 at 6pm CET. Apply here.